12:39:00

Rotherham's biggest flops in the transfer market

Jordan Bowery and Greg Halford have to be considered as transfer flops for the Millers. Here we look at other famous mistakes in the transfer market.

With Jordan Bowery leaving Rotherham last week and Greg Halford allowed to follow him - if he has any takers - the sad reality is that they have both been unequivocal flops when so much was expected of them.

Bowery arrived at New York
Stadium last summer as a club-record £250,000 buy from Aston Villa and was the
poster boy of an exciting new era for the Millers as they contemplated life in
the Championship on the back of some financial backing.

However, the striker never
got anywhere near returning that investment and managed just six goals in
44 appearances, providing little goalscoring threat and even less of a presence
in attack.

He recently returned from a
loan spell at Bradford, where he played just three times in six weeks at Valley
Parade and has joined Oxford after agreeing to end his Millers contract.

The utility player arrived as
Steve Evans’ marquee player and was handed the armband for the start of the
campaign, only to lose it after just eight games before disgracing himself on
Twitter and being sent to Birmingham on loan.

He has also been unable to
win over new boss Neil Redfearn and has been told he has no future at the club, though he hassuggested otherwise on Twitter.

All of this makes both Bowery
and Halford two of the biggest transfer flops in the club’s history.

But which others fall into
that category? Let’s have a look.

Gijsbert Bos

Poor old Gijsbert, he can
never avoid lists like these. The Dutch striker, distinguishable for a number
of reasons, was brought to the Millers for a paltry £20,000 in 1997 as one of
Ronnie Moore’s first signings. However, it did not take Moore long to work out
that the blonde-haired white-booted front man was not all that and he managed
only 18 appearances in his first season at Millmoor, which brought four goals,
with just two the following season.

Matt Tubbs

After a year-long pursuit of
Tubbs and a prolific goalscoring record when previously playing for Steve
Evans, big things were expected of him when he finally arrived at the Millers
on a six-month loan ahead of the 2013-14 campaign. However, that simply never
materialised into anything of note. The striker did not break his duck until
November – in his 14th appearance – and that was the only goal for
the Millers as he returned to Bournemouth at the end of his disappointing
spell.

Paolo Vernazza

The former Arsenal midfielder
was supposed to represent a better quality of player when he arrived with the
Millers trying to establish themselves as a second-tier side in the mid-2000s.
However, the man with the pedigree was found to be well below the level of
players who had come up through the leagues with Moore’s men. His weak and powderpuff
displays in midfield earned him the nickname ‘Vanessa’ from fans and he
epitomised a dire 2004-05 season which ended in relegation. He made 30
appearances that campaign but left midway through the following one.

Nicky Adams

Brought to the Millers to
help their 2013-14 promotion push in the January transfer window, Adams
promised to get “bums off seats” when he arrived and his pedigree – he’d played
in the Championship for Leicester – brought excitement. However, just 106
days later he was sold to Bury after making 15 appearances. Boss Steve Evans
suggested that his hasty sale was due to his unwillingness to track back.

Mark Druce

There was real hope that Mark
Druce could be the man to help lead the Millers out of trouble in 1996-97 after
scoring in his first four matches of a loan spell from Oxford. However, when he
signed permanently two games later for £50,000 he suddenly forgot where the net
was and did not score again that season as Danny Bergara’s men hopelessly fell
to relegation. He only managed one more in 18 appearances the following campaign,
meaning he’d scored one goal in 32 appearances since signing permanently.

Scott Loach

As a goalkeeper who had been
in the England squad just over 12 months before joining the Millers, Loach’s
arrival was similar to Bowery’s in showcasing that the club was swimming in new
waters. However, he could only manage just four appearances and did not feature
again following a monumental error in a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich. Several loan
moves all failed and he left the Millers in the summer after just one season.